From 486c2abf26d274d410f4173c9607d33f6eea4f98 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Narasimha-sc <166327228+Narasimha-sc@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:54:45 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] ui: connect when a SimpleX link is pasted as a markdown
 hyperlink (#7348)

* ui: connect when a SimpleX link is pasted as a markdown hyperlink

* remove comments

Co-authored-by: Evgeny <evgeny@poberezkin.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Evgeny <evgeny@poberezkin.com>
---
 .../Shared/Views/NewChat/NewChatView.swift    |  4 +--
 .../common/views/newchat/NewChatView.kt       |  3 +-
 .../2026-08-05-markdown-hyperlink-connect.md  | 33 +++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 37 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 docs/rfcs/2026-08-05-markdown-hyperlink-connect.md

diff --git a/apps/ios/Shared/Views/NewChat/NewChatView.swift b/apps/ios/Shared/Views/NewChat/NewChatView.swift
index a87b9b46f4..51746766bd 100644
--- a/apps/ios/Shared/Views/NewChat/NewChatView.swift
+++ b/apps/ios/Shared/Views/NewChat/NewChatView.swift
@@ -859,8 +859,8 @@ enum ConnectTarget {
 func strConnectTarget(_ str: String) -> ConnectTarget? {
     let parsedMd = parseSimpleXMarkdown(str)
     let links = parsedMd?.filter { $0.format?.isSimplexLink ?? false } ?? []
-    return if links.count == 1, case let .simplexLink(_, linkType, _, smpHosts) = links[0].format {
-        .link(text: links[0].text, linkType: linkType, linkText: simplexLinkText(linkType, smpHosts))
+    return if links.count == 1, case let .simplexLink(showText, linkType, simplexUri, smpHosts) = links[0].format {
+        .link(text: showText != nil ? simplexUri : links[0].text, linkType: linkType, linkText: simplexLinkText(linkType, smpHosts))
     } else if links.isEmpty,
               let nameFt = parsedMd?.first(where: { if case .simplexName = $0.format { true } else { false } }),
               case let .simplexName(nameInfo) = nameFt.format {
diff --git a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/newchat/NewChatView.kt b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/newchat/NewChatView.kt
index d3bca178aa..f3006d221b 100644
--- a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/newchat/NewChatView.kt
+++ b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/newchat/NewChatView.kt
@@ -836,7 +836,8 @@ fun strConnectTarget(str: String): ConnectTarget? {
   val links = parsedMd.filter { it.format?.isSimplexLink ?: false }
   if (links.size == 1) {
     val fmt = links[0].format as Format.SimplexLink
-    return ConnectTarget.Link(links[0].text, fmt.linkType, fmt.simplexLinkText)
+    val text = if (fmt.showText != null) fmt.simplexUri else links[0].text
+    return ConnectTarget.Link(text, fmt.linkType, fmt.simplexLinkText)
   }
   if (links.isEmpty()) {
     val nameFt = parsedMd.firstOrNull { it.format is Format.SimplexName }
diff --git a/docs/rfcs/2026-08-05-markdown-hyperlink-connect.md b/docs/rfcs/2026-08-05-markdown-hyperlink-connect.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2fe40755e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/rfcs/2026-08-05-markdown-hyperlink-connect.md
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# Connecting via a SimpleX link written as a markdown hyperlink
+
+## Problem
+
+Pasting a short SimpleX link written as a markdown hyperlink — `[label](https://smp6.simplex.im/a#...)` — into the chat list search, the new chat sheet search, or "Tap to paste link" fails with "Invalid connection link" instead of connecting.
+
+## Cause
+
+`markdownP` parses such a link into a single fragment whose `format` is `SimplexLink` but whose `text` is the whole markdown source:
+
+```
+[{"format":{"type":"simplexLink","showText":"label","linkType":"contact",
+  "simplexUri":"simplex:/a#...?h=smp6.simplex.im","smpHosts":["smp6.simplex.im"]},
+  "text":"[label](https://smp6.simplex.im/a#...)"}]
+```
+
+`strConnectTarget` returns that `text` as the string to connect with. For a bare link `text` is the link, so it works; for a hyperlink it is `[label](link)`, which the core rejects as `InvalidConnReq`.
+
+## Design
+
+Use `simplexUri` — the link the parser already resolved — when the fragment came from the hyperlink parser, and keep using `text` otherwise:
+
+```
+text = if showText != null then simplexUri else text
+```
+
+`showText` is an exact discriminator, not a heuristic: `simplexUriFormat` is called with `Just t` only from `sowLinkP` (the hyperlink parser) and with `Nothing` from `wordMD` (bare link). Gating on it leaves every bare-link path unchanged.
+
+This also matches how the chat item renderer already resolves the same format — `TextItemView.kt` takes `simplexUri`, never the fragment `text`, when `showText` is set. `strConnectTarget` was the outlier.
+
+## Scope
+
+Short links only. `sowLinkP` rejects a full link inside a hyperlink (`fail "full SimpleX link in hyperlink"`), so `[label](full-link)` yields no formatting at all and never reaches this code — it stays treated as search text, as before. Bare full links are unaffected.